1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a silencer for handling exhaust gases from an engine and particularly to a reduced volume silencer for handling exhaust gases for a diesel engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A silencer is a device which is connected to the outlet of an engine for the purpose of muffling the sound and reducing the pressure drop of the exiting exhaust gas. With the advent of smaller and more compact vehicles, the need has arisen to design a silencer which has a smaller external volume but which contains a large absorption area.
A prior art patent that has tried to solve this problem is U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,205 granted to W. Bauerschmidts in November 1978. This patent describes and claims an exhaust gas muffler construction in which two spiral flow passages are contained within a tubular housing in order to fit into a smaller space and have less height. However, this spiral configuration of the flow passages makes for a complicated structure which is difficult to manufacture and costly to produce. Applicants have sought to invent a silencer which is both small and compact and which uses a simple internal directional and absorption means.